Sail Away, Sail Away
by a whale of a tale
Summary: The Castles rent a lake house, and like any good vacation, adventure ensues. Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think :) Disclaimer: Characters (besides a few you won't recognize) belong to ABC and Marlowe.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! I'm starting a new fic that goes along with my other story, "Honey, Let Me Sing You a Song." It isn't necessary to read that story, but this one does go along with it. Basically, this fanfic occurs six years after HLMSYAS. This one will follow the Castle family (now a family of 6!) as they go on a month long vacation. I'm going to challenge myself to write more chapters, so expect a longer story. I'll still be updating my other fic too, but I got an urge to write older Caskett babies. Finally, I'm in the process of writing a more angsty fic for Castle too, so keep your eyes open for that, as well!

One last note, I've decided to spend more time individually responding to reviews instead of opening and closing with author's notes, so this fic will flow better as an overall story. Please know that I'm always extremely thankful for each reader, follow, favorite and review, even if I don't say so in each chapter! Thanks for following along on the adventure!

"MOM! Luke is biting me again!"

Kate rolled her eyes in mild annoyance as she heard yet another scream from downstairs. She dropped the sweater she was holding and walked downstairs. "Boys, I told you that I have to finish packing so we won't be late for the airport. I need you three to hold it together and keep your hands- and mouth too, Lucas- to yourselves for a little bit longer, okay?"

"But he won't stop biting me!" Henry began to protest, but was quickly shut down by his mother's skilled cop glare paired with the signature Beckett eyebrow raise.

"Mama, when are we leaving already?" Jack whined.

"Daddy is dropping off the dog at Tio and Tia's house with Emma and when they get back, we'll leave for the airport."

"Why can't Simba come with us to the lake?" Luke asked, yet again.

"Baby, I told you already, Simba is scared of airplanes. You'll see him in a month."

"I know," Luke said, frowning. "I'll just miss him, that's all."

"Oh, my sweet boy, I know." Kate leaned down to give him a kiss on the head. "Alright, if I don't hear any more fighting, you guys can watch a show until Dad gets home and it's time to go."

"Yay!" The three of them cheered in unison.

"But the second I hear one yell or whine, TV goes off, okay?" They responded with sober nods, and she smiled at her three guys, turning into such little men, and much faster than she'd like. "Hen, set it up please. I'm going back upstairs to finish packing."

She leaped the steps two at a time, hurrying to get her suitcase pulled together. She was supposed to have done it last night, but they'd caught a late case and by the time she'd gotten home, the boys were begging for snuggles and the baby needed to be fed. She'd collapsed into bed, exhausted, after packing for the kids and, well, a little fun with her husband. She'd planned on waking up early to do it, but in her exhaustion had to set an alarm, and the rest was history.

So, she'd poured cereal, filled milks, and begged her husband to take all four kids with him to drop off the dog. However, she'd forgotten they'd taken the car seats out of the SUV for the car service dropping them at the airport, and he'd taken the Mercedes with the baby (and the easiest) in tow.

In the half hour since he left, the boys had been fighting like crazy. She swore they knew when she was stressed and amped up their game just to bug her. Good thing they were cute, or they'd be dead by now.

She threw clothes in her suitcase, not caring if she overpacked- they would be gone for a month, after all. Rick had rented them a house on Lake Winnipesaukee, and a boat to go along with it. They'd spend the entirety of July sailing, swimming, tanning, and being together as a family.

The kids were so excited- since Kate had gone back to work after maternity leave ended nine months ago, everyone had been missing her around the house. She'd been working long hours to make up for the three months she'd been at home, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to walk out the door each morning with her kids screaming out after her. They'd forgotten what it was like to have two parents home all the time, ad they wanted her back with them from sun up to sun down. She had been counting down the days since Rick had booked the trip in March.

Speaking of her handsome husband, she heard his loud voice bellowing out from downstairs. The kids were laughing at something he said, and she listened for a minute as her four boys played together. But then she checked the clock, realizing their flight left in four hours and they were running way behind.

Back in her single days, two hours was plenty of time to get to LaGuardia, but now, it took them twenty minutes alone to just load up the car. She was still learning that with four kids came a lot of baggage, and not the emotional kind. Each boy had a big bag filled with clothes, a smaller roll-on bag with toys, and a backpack with snacks for the flight. The baby had the gigantic diaper bag and her own duffel bag with onesies and pajamas. Then, she and Rick had their own bags and backpacks, not to mention the two strollers, three car seats, and a booster. She was beginning to wish she'd listened to her husband and flown on a private jet. (He knew a guy, of course.) But it'd made more sense to fly commercially, and while she appreciated his money and was learning there was a time and place for it, she did not want her children to grow up the least bit spoiled. They'd compromised- he'd pick the house they stayed in and she'd book the plane tickets.

She grabbed her suitcase and carried it downstairs. "Rick, we have to start loading up, now."

"Hey honey, the boys and I were just-" "Now, Rick." She interrupted. "Okay," he raised his eyebrows at her. "Boys, let's go get in the car. It's outside waiting for us! Babe, I'll take the luggage, can you grab their backpacks and Emma?"

"Already ahead of you. Hi sweet girl," she cooed at the nearly one year old crawling across the floor. "Are the car seats loaded?"

"Yes ma'am. Henry, Jack, Luke, let's go buddies."

"Yay!" They screeched.

"Inside voices," Kate reminded. She grabbed her backpack and strapped it on, and left Rick's by the front door. Emma started crying when everyone left without her, and Kate scooped her up, snagging her pacifier and diaper bag, and slung the tiny backpacks over one arm.

She made her way out to the car and buckled in the baby, sliding in between her and Luke. Jack and Henry were excitedly kicking the seats behind her, and Rick and the driver finished loading the black Suburban.

Castle locked the front door and set the alarm, double checking that the back gate was locked. They'd moved to the suburbs when the twins were born, realizing that a loft was no place for three young kids and an occasional visiting older sister.

He gave a thumbs up to Kate, kissed her quickly, and climbed into the front seat. "Alright Castles, let's have an adventure!" He said, as cheers erupted through the car. They were finally on vacation.


	2. Chapter 2

(Henry 6, Luke and Jack 4, Emma 1)

The airport was packed, of course. They'd checked their bags outside, and were currently waiting in line at security.

Castle was entertaining the boys with a story while Kate listened with Emma in the baby carrier on her chest.

"And then the three princes and their fearless leader, the king, rescued the tiny princess and the queen from their perilous trap in the dungeon." Rick finished, with a smile.

"Hey Daddy, what's periwous?" Luke still had a little trouble with his l's, not too different from his brother who struggled with r's, on occasion.

"Perilous means dangerous, Lukey," Kate answered.

Rick leaned over to kiss her. "Exactly. Mommy is so smart sometimes, huh boys?"

"She's the smartest!" Henry exclaimed.

"What?" Rick scoffed. "What about me?"

"You're the silliest, Daddy!" Jack said and launched himself at his father who scooped him up and put him on one shoulder.

"Mama, I have to go potty," Luke said.

"Buddy, can you wait a little bit longer? We're almost through security."

"Noooo, I gotta go right away," He said, frowning and beginning to do his about to pee my pants dance.

"Okay, babe, we'll go. Castle, we'll be right back."

"Hurry, Kate, the line's starting to move faster," Rick said, with a little bit of urgency.

Kate took Luke's hand and led him to the nearest bathroom. She lifted him and held him on the seat so he wouldn't fall in.

"Mommy, I potty standing up now!"

"I know, sweetheart, but this toilet is too tall for a little guy like you."

"I'm not little! Emmy's little, I'm big like Henry."

"I'm sorry, bud. I forgot you're practically a grown up now!" She winked at him. "Now go to the bathroom so Daddy and your brothers don't go through security without us."

They waited for a minute in complete silence, until she finally heard the trickle that meant he was finally going. When he was finished, she stood him back up and pulled up his pants for him. "Good job, babe. Let's go wash up and then we'll head back."

"Okay, Mommy!" He made faces at his little sister in the mirror while he washed his hands, and then Kate swung him onto her shoulders. He was a painstakingly slow walker sometimes, and even though she already had one kid strapped to her, it seemed more time-effective to carry Luke as well.

"I see them, Mom! They're at the front." Castle was looking around for them, and waved when he made eye contact with Kate.

"Just in time. How'd it go?" He asked.

"Great. Okay, Luke, time to get down," She placed him back on the ground and began to unstrap the Baby Bjorn. "Boys, you need to take off your sweatshirts and put them in your backpacks, please. Remember the big machine that we walked through before we flew to California?"

"Yes!" Henry smiled. "The spaceship!" Kate had forgotten the little story Castle had told the boys before they walked through security. They had to go through the spaceship so they could make sure they were all ready for flying. She smiled at her crazy husband, who always knew the best stories to tell their kids.

"Exactly. We have to go through that again, and sweatshirts aren't allowed. Neither are backpacks, so Mommy and Daddy will help you put those through the baby spaceship."

"Mommy, does Emmy go through the baby spaceship?" Jack asked with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Very funny, Jack Jack. But babies come with mommies, not with backpacks." She ruffled his hair and handed Emma to Rick so she could slip off her boots and jacket as well.

"Hi, pretty girl," he cooed at the baby. "You are getting so big, sweetheart!" Emma flapped her arms excitedly. "How big is Emmeline? How big is Emma?" She opened her arms as wide as she could and started laughing. "This big!"

"Castle, can you pull out the boarding passes and the IDs from my backpack?" Kate requested. "They're in the front pocket."

He grabbed them and handed them over to the airport employee.

"Okay, who's Henry James?" The man asked.

"Me, me, me!" Henry screamed.

"Hen, honey, inside voice, please," Kate reminded.

"Sorry, Mommy," He stage whispered. "Me!"

"Thank you Henry, and who's Lucas Richard?"

"I am!" Luke jumped in the air.

"Luke, both feet on the ground. I'm sorry, they're very excited," Kate apologized.

"It's quite alright, ma'am. Are you Emmeline?"

"No, that's this little one here. I'm Katherine."

"Mommy, your name is Kate!" Jack exclaimed.

"Good job, buddy," she answered. "But you know how your name is Jackson and we call you Jack?"

"Yeah! And Luke's name is really Lucas! And Emmy's name is Emmeline!"

"Very good, baby. Well, Mommy's name is really Katherine, just like Daddy's name is Richard."

"I get it now!" The small boy smiled. "But why doesn't Henry have a short name?"

"Hold on a second, sweet boy. Let, uh, Tom wave us through first," she winked at the employee, who blushed in return.

"You're good to go, ma'am. Enjoy your flight," he said, before literally waving them through with a flourish.

"I think someone had a little crush on you..." Castle whispered in her ear.

"Castle! Shh, he'll hear you," she scolded.

"Just in case he gets any ideas, I'd better mark my territory," Castle pulled her in for a scathing kiss, until he felt a hand pushing on his crotch. He laughed, because it wasn't the first time it had happened. It wasn't the boy's fault it was the highest he could reach.

"Yes, Jack Jack?" He asked.

"Daddy, no kissy face with Mommy. She never answered my question!" Jack said, frowning.

"Sorry, honey. Well, Henry doesn't have a short name that we use more often than his real name, like with you and your twin brother and sister, but he still has lots of nicknames. We call him Hen, and Henny and Henner, and Daddy likes to use silly names like Hennington and Leonard and HJ Cruiser. Everybody has lots of nicknames!" She finished, just in time to go through the security line.

"Alright Castle, I'll take the baby and J-man here if you can take the other two. The kids can leave their shoes on so they just need a hand to hold and help getting their backpacks on the conveyor belt."

"Got it. Henry and Luke, you're with me. Let me have your bags, please!"

They made their way through the rest of the line quickly, but not until the boys each got a sticker from the staff.

"Are you guys hungry?" Castle asked. "We have just enough time to stop and get bagels before the flight."

"Yes please, I'm starving," Henry said dramatically.

"You boys go ahead, Emma is hungry so I'm going to go feed her by the gate. Bring me back one, though?" Kate asked.

"Of course, love. See you soon," Rick quickly kissed her before taking a hand of each of the twins and walking across the terminal.

She took a minute to watch four of the five parts of her heart, marveling at how quickly her kids were growing up. It seemed like just yesterday Henry was being placed in her arms, and now she had four beautiful children.

Speaking of which, Emma started crying in her arms, bringing her back to reality.

"I'm sorry, baby girl. You're getting hungry, huh? Let's go sit down and Mama will feed you." Kate never thought of herself as much of a talker, but since marrying Castle and getting used to his endless chatter, she found herself always talking to her kids. Granted, the older ones never stopped talking, so she didn't have a choice but to answer, but even with the baby who only babbled and talked a little, she talked more than she ever had in most of her adult life.

It seemed silly at first, but she'd read that babies needed to hear at least 30,000 words a day to develop a good vocabulary, and after a little practice, it was hard not to talk, and talk, and talk. She told them about her day, and stories about how she and Castle met. She explained what they were looking at, and sang songs. The kids were not going to grow up with a poor vocabulary at the rate she and Castle were working at, that was for sure.

She settled into a cozy armchair by their gate, and pulled out one of the baby blankets. She was still nursing Emma- she'd breastfed each baby until they were around 18 months old, and she loved the special time it meant she got to spend with each of them. Of course, they took bottles of breast milk while she was at work or out with Castle, but otherwise, she fed them straight from the source.

Emma stopped fussing when she figured out what was coming, and tried to paw at her mother's breast.

"Whoa there, baby, I'm hurrying." She held her in the cradle hold and covered her with the pink blanket before unbuttoning her shirt. Emma latched on quickly and began sucking with quite the intensity.

"Wow, you were hungry. Sorry to keep you waiting for so long!" Kate rubbed her daughter's back, and closed her eyes, soaking in the moment before the rest of her family returned.


End file.
